THAT I MAY KNOW HIM

Php. 3:10 ... "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."

      As He looked forward to the Messianic Age, God spoke through His prophet, "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," (Jer. 31:34). It is the will of God that everyone  should come to know Him, for He is their creator, their sustainer, and their only hope for eternal life. Furthermore, throughout the Bible there emerges evidence of God's desire to fellowship with man whom He created in His own image. God has revealed Himself to an extent in the wonders of nature, (Psa. 19:1; Acts 14:17), although this knowledge of Him speaks more of His deeds than His personality. God has also revealed Himself to a far greater extent in the Holy Scriptures, so that we may know His will for us. But most of all, God has shown us His character in the life of Christ, who is "the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature," (Heb. 1:3). As God desires us to know Him through the image of His Son, we should also keenly desire to know Jesus and through Him to come to know God.

      To "know Jesus," however, involves far more than factual knowledge. Many avowed enemies of Jesus are very informed on the details of His earthly life, and even on the substance of what He taught. To know Jesus even requires more than the acquaintance with Him that comes from understanding and appreciating His life and its grand mission. Really knowing Jesus involves active participation in His experience; that is, a kind of reenactment of His life in one's own. This begins when one becomes a Christian, since in baptism one unites with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. We read in Rom. 6:3-5, "All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection."

      After this initial union with Christ, the Christian continues inseparably therein throughout the balance of his life in a fashion that is almost mysterious. At least we are at want for words to try to explain it. The nature of it is outlined by Paul in Gal. 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." This statement applies to every true Christian as much as it did to Paul. In one's conversion he shares in Christ's crucifixion, undergoing a very real type of death. But in dying he is reborn to a new life, one in which the life principle is Christ who dwells within him. Life in the flesh goes on, not as before when the person chose his own course, but rather as faith in Christ directs him. This living relationship with Jesus involves "knowing Him" in the truest sense.

      As one attempts to reenact Jesus' life in his own experience, he will devote himself to adopting Jesus' model of thinking and conduct as the normal standard by which he himself is governed. Without regret or complaint he will endure whatever hardships that follow in the shadow cast by Jesus' own agony. In the end he will die in the faith and for the faith in imitation of the Lord, looking up out of the "valley of the shadow of death" with unwavering hope. For the Christian is persuaded that sharing his life with Jesus will lead to the ultimate experience of Jesus' sharing with him His resurrection when He returns at the end of the age to summon His disciples from their graves.

WITHOUT GRUMBING OR DISPUTING

Php. 2:14-15a ... "Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God."

      The church is sometimes called a "community of believers." A community is a group of people who share or participate in something in common. In the case of the church this happens to be the conviction that God is real, that He has revealed Himself to us through inspired Scripture, that He sent Christ to be our Savior, that He has given us a law to govern our lives, and that He has given us citizenship in His kingdom which is eternal. All who hold this conviction and make the proper response thereunto are citizens in this "community of believers." The activites of sharing or participating in this common faith constitute the norm of Christian behavior. This norm, however, is not one which is set by those who participate, for the church is governed by God and not by man. Paul informed Timothy, his young  assistant, "I am writing these things to you ... so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth," (I Tim. 3:14-15). This statement indicates that there is a defined way in which Christians must conduct themselves as members of a Christ-centered community and that this way is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Those who reverence God and strive to please Him will mark this way and publicly submit their conduct to it. And since that conduct is the outward expression of one's attitudes, they will first of all submit their will to the will of God. The statement to Timothy concerns our conduct as members of the "household of God," and our response to it will go a long way toward determining how strongly we are committed to being the community of believers who make up the Lord's church.

     The integrity, health, and strength of a congregation is impaired in direct proportion to the degree of personal disaffection that arises within it. Grumbling and disputing are the result of the individual preferences and desires contrary to what are held in common by the body as a whole. In other words, these detrimental activities within the church spring from individuals who elevate themselves above the group, esteeming their own condition, feelings, and ambitions as superior to those of others. We read of such an individual in the early church in III John 9-10: "Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say ... unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren ... and forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church."

      Such attitudes and practices constitute a violation of the Christian principles of fellowship and love. In I Cor. 13 we are taught that love "is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly," and "does not seek its own." A heart filled with love will therefore not grumble when its own preferences are not chosen as the mode for the group. The same text also proclaims that love "is not provoked." Therefore, it does not dispute when it meets resistance to what it urges. The fellowship that should prevail in the church requires the surrender of personal considerations to it, or it will not long be true fellowship. To insist on one's own goals at the expense of the welfare of others is a denial of the common sharing that is the essence of fellowship. When "grumbling or disputing" arise wthin the church, it exposes the body of Christ to reproach by those who are without. Those who engage in these negative actions also weaken themselves to a point where they are exposed to spiritual harm. In fact, as the closing phrase of the lead text indicates, they imperil their identification as "children of God." In the long run, he who surrenders his personal desires to the good of the church receives in return blessings far greater than those he has willingly sacrificed. Such a person truly exhibits the attitude (or mind) of Christ," (cf. Php. 2:5-8). 

STANDING FIRM FOR THE FAITH

Php. 1:27b ... "Whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."

      Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote these words to the Christians in Philippi in Macedonia, and they show the concern he had for them and his hope for what they would do: stand fast in the faith and be united in their thought and purpose. God has always willed that His people stand fast against the pressures of evil constantly being exerted from all sides upon them. The New Testament writers often give notice that Christians are engaged in the cosmic struggle against evil, thus making every disciple a soldier of Christ. One of the worst things that can happen in warfare is to expose a flank to the enemy. If some part of the battleline falls back for whatever reason, it opens a gap and exposes the flank of the rest of the line. If the enemy follows up the advantage, he can "roll up" the line from side to side and rout the other army. It is one thing to fight an enemy face-to-face, but it is very difficult to fight one force head on and another simultaneously on the left or right. This principle applies in spiritual as well as in physical warfare, but in spiritual conflict "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). The church must present a solid, continuous line against this array of evil, yielding no advantage to the malign adversary.

      In I Cor. 15:58 we are urged strongly to be "steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." In Eph. 4:14 we are warned not to let ourselves be "tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming." And in Jas. 1:6-7 we are advised that "the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord." In fact, our identity as Christians is maintained by our unyielding position with respect to immorality, worldliness, and false doctrine. If we ebb and flow with the tide of society in its tastes, habits, and fashions, we send out a confusing signal to people in general about who we are and what we stand for. The line between the church and the world must be kept very distinct. When we yield to the sins of society, it becomes hard to distinguish the difference between Christians and the unregenerate. The church takes on shades of worldly color until finally there is no contrast visible. To a great extent this happened in the Ephesian church and provoked this warning from the Lord, "Remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place" (Rev. 2:5). To have your "lampstand" removed "out of its place" is a figure to indicate the Lord is rejecting you as being any longer one of His own. This is what you forfeit when you fail to keep "standing firm ... (and) striving together for the faith of the gospel."

      The goal of firm resistance to sin and clear identity in Christ can be achieved most easily when Christians surrender their individual preferences and desires to the church to establish common policy, rooted and grounded in the truth of the gospel. That is the idea conveyed in the words "with one mind striving together." An army cannot succeed on the field of battle if various units go off in different directions to accomplish self-conceived objectives. The annals of war abundantly contain accounts of defeat resulting from such lack of union and coordination. The army that stays together more often wins the victory, even though it may be smaller and not as well equipped. Jesus prayed fervently in John 17 for the unity of His church, stressing that in such unity "the world may believe that You sent Me" (v.21). The fragmentation of the church, followed by secularism, infidelity, and anti-religious sentiment in the world, reveals the reality of what Jesus prayed might be avoided. The only countermeasure to this real danger is the reunification of the church and "standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."

STANDING FIRM AGAINST SATAN

Eph. 6:11 ... "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."

      In His great prophetic discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus said that "you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars ... for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (vs. 6-7).  The foremost of these wars is that between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. It began before the world was created and shall not end until the climactic battle described in Rev. 20:7-10, when  Satan and his allies will be "thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone" to be "tormented day and night forever and ever." Before that grand conclusion the war goes on relentlessly, and no one is able to stand clear of its movements. Jesus declared in Mat. 6:24 that "no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other." Everyone is either in the army of the Lord fighting Satan, or in the army of Satan fighting God. In our current philosophy we rebel against such either/or propositions; but whether it suits our mentality or not, such is reality.

      Everyone wants to be on the side that will win, and the Bible makes it emphatically and distinctly clear that God shall stand Victor in heaven when Satan lies supine in utter defeat in the torment of hell. And those who follow him will lie writhing in perpetual agony there about him. To avert this mistake we must take the advice of the inspired apostle in the lead text above. God conscripts no one into His army, but He joyfully accepts every volunteer to be mustered in. To be inducted one must put his faith in Christ, repent of his sins, confess his allegiance to Christ, and accept baptism for the remission of sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then God issues to each Christian soldier the armor that will enable him to "stand firm against the schemes of the devil." Satan is a highly skilled fighter, having practiced and perfected his art over the past several millennia. The word translated "schemes" indicates this, for it was a military term that meant "strategies." Nevertheless, with all his expertise and cunning, the devil cannot overcome the soldier of Christ who always wears every piece of this wonderful armor. 

      It consists of five defensive implements and one that is offensive. The first is the truth which is revealed in the gospel of Christ. It is the wide, thick belt (girdle) that protected the abdomen of a Roman foot soldier. The second is righteousness, or living by the standard of God's word and its modeled application in the life of Jesus. It compares to the metal breastplate that guarded the heart and lungs of an infantryman. The third is the preparation of the gospel of peace. The Christian soldier must always be "ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you" (I Pet. 3:15). The answer comes, of course,  from the Holy Scriptures which the Christian has stored in his memory. With such answers Jesus decisively repelled the attack of Satan in Mat. 4:1-11.  Such preparation answers to the footgear worn by a Roman soldier.  Fourth is faith, the shield of a Christian which enables him to "extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." The fifth implement of the Christian armor is salvation, which serves to secure him as surely as the steel helmet which could withstand the direct blow of a battle ax. Finally, the one offensive weapon given to a Christian is the word of God, a spiritual sword. With it he can go on the attack against evil and come out victor. By becoming a Christian soldier, wearing all of this armor and using it throughout life as intended, the disciple will indeed be able to "stand firm" and share forever in the victory celebration in heaven in the presence of his Commander-in-Chief, (cf. Rev. 7:9-17).

      

THE WAYS OF THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH

Eph. 5:15-16 ... "Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

      Throughout the Bible there is the division of people into two categories, those who are wise and those who are fools. A "wise man" is defined in Pro. 1:5 as a person who "will hear and increase in learning."  A "fool" is then defined in v.7 as one who "despise(s) wisdom and instruction." Although the wise listen to instruction from any source and devote themselves to learning its message, first and foremost they devote their attention to "the fear of the Lord" which is "the beginning of knowledge" (v.7). And though fools usually disregard instruction of any kind, their greatest folly is to ignore God's revelation. Throughout the Old Testament, but especially in the book of Proverbs, attention is focused upon the differences between the wise and the foolish, counseling us to be wise in order to benefit from its results and to avoid being foolish in order to escape its tragic consequences. In the lead text above, the apostle Paul projects his exhortation against that great expanse of inspired counsel from the past.

      It is characteristic of the wise to walk carefully, which means to choose your path of life with great care. The King James translation here reads to "walk circumspectly." There is perspective expressed in the term "circumspectly," which is formed from the Latin circum (around) and spectare (to look). The idea is that as a person moves forward in life, he should be carefully looking at the scene about him. He looks forward to what he can perceive is about to confront him. He looks left and right to the actions of others, and even occasionally looks backward to remember lessons that past experience has taught.

      No one can actually see into the future, but the wise man will be so astute an observer of current trends and probabilities that he can fairly predict where he is headed and takes action appropriately. The fool is so preoccupied with the frivolities of the moment that he takes no thought of where he is going and suffers greatly from the consequences. We are told in Pro. 22:3 that "the prudent man sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on and are punished for it." The wise man studies the behavior of other people to see whether it conforms to or departs from the canons of righteousness. If it conforms, then he associates himself with those people and participates in their activities, but if it varies from that norm, he avoids those transgressors and disapproves of their ways. The wise are urged in Pro. 1:10, 15-16, "If sinners entice you, do not consent. ... Do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, for their feet run to evil and they hasten to shed blood." The wise apply their memory to hold on to lessons learned in the school of experience and those learned from godly teachers, so that they may be able to put them to good use in the present. Christians are urged in Heb. 2:1 to "pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it."

      Finally, Eph. 5:15-16 counsels us to "mak(e) the most of your time." This may be translated as "redeem the time." In the literal sense, past time cannot be redeemed (recovered), for past time is with God and cannot be purchased with the wealth of nations or extracted from Him with the power of the universe. But it is well within our power to make the best use of present opportunities to improve our lives, minister to others, and produce fruit for our Master. A wise person will fine-tune his perception to see opportunities, shake off the common tendency toward inertia, and press forward to exploit them.  Our prayer should always be: "Lord, open my eyes to see the good that I can do today; and give me the boldness to undertake it, and the resolve to see it through to completion and success."

PUTTING ON A NEW SELF

Eph. 4:22-24 ... "In reference to your former manner of life, ... lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit ... and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

      The greatest change that can occur in a person's life is being converted into a Christian. The pre-conversion state is here called "the old self," while the post-conversion state is called "the new self." In other words, the individual leaves one identity behind and acquires a wholly new one. It is as though yesterday you were one person, but today you have become someone quite different. You may look the same, talk in the same voice, and express the same mannerisms, but there is something very different about you.  In the latter fourth century in the city of Hippo in North Africa, there was a young man named Augustine. He was a playboy, given to the immediate gratification of any lust that swelled up within him. He was intimate with the prostitutes of the city and loved their company. He went to Milan, Italy, to advance his education and there met Ambrose, a devout Christian scholar. He was able to penetrate the mind of Augustine and influence him to become a Christian. Augustine's life was then totally changed. When he finished school, he returned to Hippo. One day, as he walked down a street, a former friend and harlot saw him and called to him. Augustine did not respond, but hurried on his way. The woman ran after him, calling repeatedly. Finally, she yelled, "Augustine, it is I!" Without looking back, he answered loudly, "Indeed, but it is no longer I!" He was not the same inner self as she last knew him.

      So radical is the transformation in becoming a Christian that it may be compared to death and resurrection. In Rom. 6:3-5 we read, "All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection."  Being converted to Christ involves death to your former manner of life and the attitudes that supported it, and rebirth to a different manner of life directed by new attitudes adopted from the mind of Christ. In fact, this conversion can even be described as miraculous, for it produces a "new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Only God has the power to create, and so only God can create the "righteousness and holiness" that come to characterize the Christian. In the act of conversion, which according to Rom. 6:4 (and other passages) occurs in baptism, God works to destroy "the old self which is ... corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit" and then to create "the new self" by being "renewed in the spirit of [his] mind."

      These fundamental changes that take place with a person's mind and soul are invisible to human sight, but the resulting changes in his behavior are soon apparent to others, as Augustine's were to the harlot. In Eph. 4:25-32, this transformation in conduct is described in several particulars. First, a lying tongue is exchanged for truth, which is the only basis upon which fellowship can be built and then maintained (v.25). Second, one gains control of his anger and cancels it before the day is out, thus denying the devil the opportunity to tempt him (vs. 26-27). Third, rather than take advantage of others to dispossess them, one strives to earn his own living and even have something extra to share with the needy (v.28). Fourth, the convert to Christ cleanses his mouth of corrupt speech, replacing it with words that are good, edifying and graceful (v.29). One day I was talking with a man about a mutual friend who had been converted one Sunday. He worked beside this man in a factory and had noticed quickly  "a remarkable difference even before he told me he had given his life to Christ." It was this man's habit to use foul speech constantly as he worked, but that Monday he did not use a single wicked word. Fifth, the "new self" in Christ dispenses with his former disposition to be bitter, wrathful, angry, loud, and verbally abusive. Rather, he builds a new disposition to be kind, tenderhearted. and forgiving. He is so overwhelmed that God for Christ's sake has fogiven him of his sins that he finds it not difficult to forgive others when they irritate him.

      The goal of the one who has been created anew as a Christian is to please God who granted him this delightful condition of life. Sin grieves the "Holy Spirit of God," and in the vast debt of appreciation he owes this Spirit, who has "sealed [him] for the day of redemption," he devotes himself to avoiding sin (v.30). Pleasing his Savior is now this greatest satisfaction, and unto that purpose he gladly devotes the remainder of his life.

A MAN OF HUMILITY

Eph. 3:8 ... "To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ." 

      In this statement Paul takes a liberty that he cautioned against in II Cor. 10:12, where he urged Christians not to "measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves." In that context he was warning against the tendency to compare oneself with someone who seemed to be inferior in order to exalt oneself and boast. Paul resorts to the comparison in this context, but the result is neither self-exaltation nor boasting. Much to the contrary, after putting his life up against "all saints," he declares himself to be "the very least." He recalled the time when he scorned the name of Christ and vigorously persecuted the church. He could not raise himself above those who had never tried to inflict harm upon the Divine Cause, not even when, before they became Christians, they were not supporters of it. Although an apostle by the will of God and not man (Gal. 1:1), Paul felt himself inferior to fellow Christians who were not apostles, but who had never been overt, avowed enemies of the Lord.

      What we see in this remarkable statement by a man of superior capacities, (many have called him a genius), is profound humility. Here was a preacher who applied his own teaching to himself in earnest, for it was he who wrote in Php. 2:3-4, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Paul had much to boast about. He had seen the risen Lord in the zenith of the sky (Acts 9). He had received revelations of surpassing greatness and had even been "caught up into Paradise," the "third heaven" (II Cor. 12:7, 2, 4). But he did not permit these extraordinary distinctions lead him to pride and arrogance, for he knew well that God hates the "proud look" (Pro. 6:17 KJV). Furthermore, Paul had learned Christian love and had clothed his heart with its beautiful mantle. Such love "does not brag and is not arrogant" (I Cor. 13:4). In the effort to be loved by God and then be able to share that love with others through his ministry, he  humbled himself before God and man. With respect to other Christians, even those of the least ability and lowest standing, he considered it his privilege and joy to sacrifice his life in order to promote their faith.

      We need people in the church today who possess the humility of Paul. Perhaps this need is most acute among those who minister publicly like Paul did. Each one who serves in such a capacity should search his heart to determine whether he covets the attention and praise of the church to promote his career, or whether he performs his work to please God and best use the talents God has given him. Those whose motive is, in reality, self-exaltation exhaust their reward as that attention, praise, and a "following" of brethren come to them (Mat. 6:2, 5, 16). Once there was a meeting of preachers and leaders from a wide area to honor an elderly preacher who had served the Lord for above sixty years. The purpose of the gathering, however, had been kept secret from him. Several men were asked to come to the platform, among whom was this white-haired and somewhat stooped gentleman. As he started up the steps, the whole assembly, by prearrangement, rose and began a great ovation. But the elderly man instinctively stepped aside to usher the man behind him up to the platform. The thought did not occur to him that the honor was for himself. How touching his humility! How powerful his quiet, unassuming example! How much had he absorbed the mind of Christ, instead of just preaching it from the pulpit with the ulterior motive of eliciting the attention, praise, and awe of a multitude. The Lord proclaims in Isa. 66:2, "To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word." We all would do well to pay heed to this exhortation.